A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and apparatus for removing dust and dirt from floors. More particularly, the invention relates to a vacuum broom apparatus which utilizes a synergistic combination of sweeping and vacuuming functions to efficiently remove dirt and dust from floor surfaces while minimizing undesired dispersal of errant dust or dirt particles into the atmosphere.
B. Description of Background Art
Periodic removal of dust, dirt and other debris which accumulates on floors of buildings is performed using a limited variety of well known methods. Thus concrete floors of small industrial or commercial buildings are sometimes washed or hosed down but more typically swept with hand-operated push brooms. Floors of larger buildings are sometimes cleaned using motor-driven rotating brushes which are mounted on a wheeled sweeper apparatus that is pushed by hand, or on a self-propelled sweeper. Dust and dirt accumulated on carpeted surfaces in commercial buildings and residences is typically removed using a vacuum cleaner, which oftentimes includes a wheeled head attachment that includes a rotating brush and a beater bar to agitate carpet fibers and thereby facilitate releasing dirt into a plenum within the head which is subjected to negative pressure produced by a motor-driven blower fan located external to the head.
Vacuum cleaner heads that include motor-driven roller brushes or beater bars and intended for use on carpeted surfaces are generally not well suited for use on hard floor surfaces such as those of tile, concrete, stone or the like. Accordingly, vacuum cleaner kits are typically provided with nozzles of various sizes and shapes which are interchangeably connectable to the lower or outer end of a hollow tubular handle, the upper end of which is coupled through a vacuum hose to a source of negative pressures. Some nozzles which are intended for use on non-carpeted floor surfaces are provided with brush bristles that extend downwardly from a lower surface of the nozzle body, the bristles being arranged in a ring which peripherally encloses a centrally located suction input opening of the nozzle. The brush bristles function as a flexible air dam which makes
a partial hermetic seal between the suction input opening of the nozzle and the hard surface of a floor on which the nozzle is drawn across. The bristles also help to dislodge debris particles adhered to a floor surface. However, this dislodging action is problematic because it is confined to a region which peripherally encircles the suction inlet opening of the nozzle, and thus tends to not only inefficiently gather dislodged debris particles, but undesirably scatters a good percentage of the particles into the atmosphere. The present invention was conceived of to provide a vacuum broom apparatus for effectively cleaning floor surfaces while causing a minimal amount of dispersal of dust and dirt into the atmosphere.